What Vietnam has taught me. . .

I remember looking forward to placement and wondering about all the things I would see, do, explore, and experience. So far, it has been absolutely incredible; but then I was thinking about how I’m working so hard to make the most of the time I have available to experience everything this city, country, and region has to offer and I can’t help but wonder why I didn’t do this in Canada.

Canada has a ton to offer and I still haven’t seen even a fraction of the things I hope to see there, there are many things to do and see in the areas I have lived in with little or no cost, but why wasn’t I focused on making the most of my time or experience? I guess because it feels normal. When you stay in the same country or area, you fall into a pattern or routine, you do normal things, you have habits. You feel as though there is no rush because you have a lifetime to experience what you want and do all those things you never got around to yet.

This realization is giving me something to work towards. I will not wait for experiences like this placement to live my life to the fullest, I will live my life to the fullest every single day in every single town, city, country that I am fortunate enough to live in. I will experience things to the fullest and make the most of the time I have. If I’m willing to spend hours walking around Ha Noi because its beautiful, why didn’t I do that in Canada? I guess I got stuck in the routine of ‘home’ and found what boundaries I was comfortable with.

No more! Vietnam has taught me to experience things, explore, try something new and avoid routine and that is something I hope to never forget.

Awesome point Steph! I think everyone is guilty of this, no matter where they live – I have met so many people in Botswana that have never seen an elephant!! And one of our national parks has the highest concentration in the WORLD! It’s crazy.

Anyways, I definitely need to see more of Canada – maybe I’ll make a trip up to Northern Ontario and visit you :P Or we could arrange road trip to one of the coasts…

You should come visit :)
I personally would love to trek/bike Cape Breton Island, and I have never been west. I think that I need to see the rest of Canada. I would also love to go north, see sunrise and sunset in the same hour :)